


Last Dance

by Ocendaca



Series: Through life and loss [7]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: AU, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, M/M, non-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26429218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ocendaca/pseuds/Ocendaca
Summary: A day of celebration turns into the worst day of Clouds life.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tseng, Andrea Rhodea/Cloud Strife, Jules/Jay/Ronnie, Leslie Kyle/Tifa Lockhart, Madame M/Chocobo Sam, Zack Fair/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Through life and loss [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852894
Kudos: 3





	Last Dance

The banner above the stage of the Honeybee Inn read ‚4th Anniversary Andrea and Cloud‘.  
Below it a band were playing dance music and the hall was filled with people dancing, alone or in couples, chatting or browsing the buffet.

Andrea stood beside Madame M and took in the scenery.  
All the people who had accompanied them on their way were here: Tifa and Leslie, their daughter Blossom in care of her Nanny at home.  
Zack, flirting with the bees ever since he and Aerith agreed that their on-off-relationship wouldn't work out. He became a regular to the Honeybee Inn and always denied special treatment.  
Aerith and Tseng - he helped her through her grief when Elmyra died two years ago and their relationship grew from protection to love.  
His brother Jules with his two lovers Jay and Ronnie.  
Sam and Madame M who still insisted on not being together, although it was obvious to anyone who noticed the intimacy of their touches.  
The whole staff of the Honeybee Inn, first of all Antoine, his oldest and best friend and basically the majordomo of the Inn.

At last his gaze fell upon his husband, Cloud, who stood across the floor chatting with Tifa. The love of his life, the man who could make him soar to unknown heights with just a tender touch, who made him come undone countless times and put him together again by holding him tight.

He thought back four years ago when the same people were gathered to witness their vows 'If you grow weak, I’ll be there to fight your battle for you.' 'If you have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, I’ll be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with you.' and the promises of love and respect.

As if he felt the gaze upon him Cloud turned his face towards him and smiled the way he always did after a slow dance.  
Oh yes, he had scheduled that slow dance for the midnight hour, and afterwards they would leave their guests to continue their celebration in private.

Andrea felt a sharp pain behind his left eye and his sight started to blur. He looked at Cloud and saw his smile turning into an expression of pertubation und panic, surging towards him.

It was the last Andrea Rhodea saw before his mind went dark.

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Cloud listened to Tifa about the latest adventure of his goddaughter. His gaze wandered across the room to find his husband beside Madame M looking at him and they shared a look full of endearment.

Suddenly Andrea were grimacing and his left hand flew to his temple. The next moment he was crumbling to the ground, his fall only delayed by Madame M who tried to grab him and was pulled to the ground by the weight of the dancer.

Cloud surged towards them and wrapped one arm behind his husbands back. "Andrea" he almost yelled "Hey, come on, what's wrong?" He tapped him on the cheek but the head rolled around limp.  
"Aerith." he shrieked, his own voice sounding foreign to him.  
Aerith rushed to sit on the other side of Andreas body, while Sam helped Madame M to stand up. She let her hand hover above the dancer, a faint white whirl around her palm. Her hand lingered a moment above the chest and wandered up above the head. The whirl dissappeared and she hung her head defeated.  
"Aerith?" Cloud asked with a small voice. She looked up to him, eyes brimming with tears. "He's already gone to the lifestream." she whispered.  
"No!" the blonde cried "no, Andrea, no, come back, come back to me." He held the lifeless body close to him and rocked back and forth, chanting the same words over and over while tears ran down his face.  
A hand was squeezing his shoulder and he looked to the side where Jules cowered beside him. His brother-in-law didn't speak but stayed by his side and kept his touch.

The music has long died and most of the guests left.

Zack looked around. Tifa and Leslie were still there, holding on to each other as did Aerith and Tseng. Jay and Ronnie sat in the back of the room. Antoine stood alone and abandoned, eyes glued to the men on the ground, arms tightly wrapped around himself. He looked so lost, no tear had made it beyond his eyes.  
Zack went to him and wrapped his arms lightly around him, cupping a hand behind his head, pulling it against his shoulder. He whispered "It's okay to cry." and with this Antoines body started to tremble with his silent sobbing.

After a while the coroner arrived and Jules shook Cloud lightly out of his state of shock.  
The blonde looked around, blinking his tears away and took the dead body in a bridal carry to lift him to the gurney. He placed a last kiss to the forehead of his husband before the shroud covered his lifeless body and the officials made their way to the morgue.

The couples prepared to leave, the women hugging Cloud, the men squeezing his shoulder. Murmured words of condolence and assurance of asisstance were offered and the blonde just nodded with his eyes.

Antoine came loose from Zack and went to Cloud, touching his upper arm lightly. "I'll prepare a guest room for you." he offered. Cloud looked at him deeply thankful. The thought of spending the night in the suite, prepared for a night of love, had already tortured him.

"I'll be at my place. Will be back tomorrow, okay?" Jules said and squeezed Clouds hand. Cloud managed to put on a small sad smile for his brother in law "Thanks, you're okay on your own?"  
"I'm a Rhodea. I bend but won’t break." Jules replied. "And I won‘t be alone." which elicited a small huff of fake amusement from Cloud. Then Jules left with his lovers.

Zack stepped up to Cloud and wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the blonde "Need me? Wanna talk?" Cloud shook his head "Not yet, I'm just so tired."  
Zack let go of Cloud "Okay, I'll stay here." He looked at Antoine who nodded. "I'll prepare two rooms. And don't you dare to offer any payment." he shot at the black haired. Zack only gave a short sound of acceptance.

The three men left the hall, turning off the lights.

A clock struck midnight.

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The next days Cloud wasn‘t much aware of his surroundings. He woke, he ate when Antoine insisted upon and at night he tried to cope with the void that surrounded him, deafening his senses.

The report of the coroner confirmed what Aerith had already assessed: Andreas brain was most likely already dead when his body hit the ground, flooded with blood from a ruptured aneurysm. There wouldn‘t have been a way to prevent or heal this ailment.  
Cloud took a little solace from the fact that his husband probably didn‘t realized what happened to him and didn’t have to endure much pain.

The opening of the will was a surprise for Cloud: besides an annuity for life for Antoine he was the lone inheritor of the Honeybee Inn and any other property of his husband. Jules assured him that he had talked with his brother about their last wills and he complied with it.

Andrea had also stated that his funeral shouldn’t be a mourning of his death but a celebration of his life. So three weeks later, after the inhumation, a smaller group of people sat together, sharing stories of happier times.  
A lots of „Do you remember...“ and „I almost have forgotten...“ were said and Cloud once thought how many stories he didn’t knew before and how he wished them to have been told by Andrea through years and years to follow.  
Jules and Antoine provided old photo albums and more than once a small laugh sounded through the room.  
It was an atmosphere full of warmth and fondness but still everyone knew that this was the ultimate goodbye.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Cloud never moved back into the suite but stayed in the guestroom - now his private room - instead. Only once he checked for forgotten items after Antoine had cleared the suite and when he stepped into the bedroom and his gaze fell upon the stripped bed his chest constricted so tight he thought he‘d suffocate.

He knew he wasn’t the only one who mourned - Jules was quiet in his grief and his lovers stood by him. Antoine was Clouds rock at the Inn but there were moments they couldn’t look at each other, avoiding seeing the other ones pain and those moments they spent in silence, not really comfortable but with a mutual understanding.

Zack made sure that Cloud didn’t take jobs that required to spend the night outside Midgar on his own.

Time heals, they say and with the passage of months the void around Cloud slowly dissipated. He cherished the moments when he could smile again - spending time with Tifa and Blossom, visiting Elmyras - now Aeriths and Tsengs - house to pick fresh flowers for Andreas grave and spending an evening at the Seventh Heaven - now run by Biggs, Wedge and Jessie - playing darts with his friends.

After some months there was an uneasy feeling, a kind of itch when he stayed too long in the city. The Honeybee Inn needed attention but each time he could leave the city for a job he found it easier to breathe.  
So one day he had a long talk with Zack. The dark haired didn’t fully understand him but he trusted him to make the right decisions and affirmed his support to him.

Now came the difficult part: talking to Antoine.

After their regular talk about how to run the Inn - Cloud almost always agreed to Antoines suggestions - he dropped the bomb.

„I’m gonna leave.“ he said, looking at his clenched hands on the table.  
The room stayed silent for a while until Antoine sighed and said „I expected you to leave sooner.“  
Cloud flicked his gaze up to the older mans face „You did?“  
A fond smile occupied Antoines features „You loathe the city, one can see that clearly. I guess Andrea occupied your mind so you didn’t recognize before, but with him gone nothing holds you here anymore.“

„You think you can handle the Inn alone?“  
„I won’t be alone.“ Antoine stated „There will always be the bees and boys. Although we‘ll need some security.“  
„Already talked to Zack about that.“ Cloud explained. „He will move in. He or you can take the suite, just arrange yourselves.“ Antoines eyes went wide with surprise.  
„And I will call regulary and won‘t stay away forever, I guess.“ Cloud went on.  
There was another silence.

„So, what are you planning to do?“ the older man asked finally.  
„Going to set up a branch in Kalm. Everytime a job took one of us there for days we talked about it and now is as good as ever.“  
„When are you leaving?“  
Cloud leaned back in the chair and looked up to the ceiling „You think we can arrange everything within a week?“ he looked back at Antoine and chuckled „Maybe all goes wrong and I will be back in a month.“  
Antoine chuckled too „I highly doubt it. You‘ll make it.“

They sat in comfortable silence again for a while until Cloud said quietly „May I ask something? Something personal?“  
„Of course.“  
„Why did you stopped dancing? I mean, why did you and Andrea stopped.... you know.“  
Antoine did not seemed surprised by the question. „We realized that our friendship was stronger than our mutual physical attraction.“

Cloud looked at him with a hint of guilt in his gaze „Have you ever been jealous of me?“  
„Oh, Cloud,“ the older man put his hand on Clouds and squeezed it assuring „I was so happy for the two of you. You were just born for each other. Noone else but you could have turned this libido-driven rake into a loving, faithful husband.“ he chuckled again „And seeing the two of you with Blossom I always wondered if you would have been good parents too.“  
Cloud huffed amused „Never talked about that, but I doubt the Honeybee Inn is a good place to raise a child.“  
„Or a good place for a country boy.“ Antoine said quietly with a knowing smile.

„Thanks for everything.“ Cloud said with a wavering voice.  
Antoine stood up and pointed his finger at Cloud „Stop that. You’re not saying goodbye yet.“  
„'kay.“ the blonde got up and placed a quick peck on Antoines cheek and whispered „But you’re still the best.“ and scooted out of the bureau.

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Nine days later Cloud was on his way towards the mining town, the compartments of his motorbike filled with the bare necessities for the first days on his own.  
He had said his goodbyes in a quiet way, always with the promise to stay in contact. Zack would come over after he settled and Leslie reminded him that his connections went even farther than Kalm. Antoine made him promise to call at least once weekly for business talk, even though Cloud was sure he just wanted to be sure he’s fine.  
Taking a last look at Midgar he turned towards the way into his future and pulled the throttle.

**Author's Note:**

> This is not the end of Clouds story.


End file.
